When my twin sons were old enough, I took them with me on summer moves. If we had a layover someplace, I’d park my truck, rent a car, and we’d take a little trip of our own. My kids have seen Mt. Rushmore, they’ve been through DC , and have been to the Grand Canyon with me. It was a lot of fun.

I took my boys one at a time. We’d be gone 2-4 weeks, come home for a few days, and then I’d take the other one with me. It was kind of pot luck where you’d end up but back then, I was running coast to coast and with coast to coast you always had a fair amount of dead time between one coast and the other.

In this job, you do miss a lot of time with your kids while they’re growing up. But now my kids have pictures and say, “Hey dad, remember this, when we took that riverboat ride on the Mississippi in St. Louis?” Or, “This is when we went to the Grand Canyon.” When you do things like that with them it makes it a little easier.

A nice thing about my schedule is that I may be gone for three or four weeks, but when I get home, I’m taking eight, nine, ten days off. So, while I wasn’t home every night to see my boys before they went to bed, when I did get home, I’d be there for a good week, long enough to do things with my family 24 hours a day. That right there gives you the freedom to do some things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. At the end of the year, I figure I have just as much time off as the average guy with a regular job, maybe more.

Mike J.

I sleep in motels all the time while I’m on the road. It can get expensive, but I can often get a corporate rate. Repeat business will often get you a cut rate, too, sometimes $35 or $40 a night. And they’re nice places, like Quality Inn and Hamilton Inn.

I give out a lot a of referrals so once I asked a place if they’d give us a deal if I could get them about nine guys every other night. They agreed. Word like that gets around to a lot of drivers and can be a good deal for everyone.

Mike B

One of the nicer things about the job is the repeat customers you get to know pretty well. It’s great to be requested by a customer who trusts you.

There was a pilot for the Burlington Northern railroad that I moved six times in about six years. It wasn’t a huge move, maybe about 7,000 pounds. Because he was a pilot, he had to live where they needed the plane for corporate employees. It got to the point that he’d throw me his keys, hop in his car and say, “Lock up when you’re done.” He wouldn’t even be there during the move.

Tom C

I just loaded a spider exhibit out of the LA zoo. No live animals, of course, but right now I’ve got a giant spider strapped to my van wall. That’s a new one. I got to the zoo a day early and we got about a third of it loaded yesterday. I had to leave the loaded trailer in the zoo, so I pulled the tractor out in their parking lot and spent the night outside the zoo listening to all the animals. It was interesting hearing elephants in the night. Another first. Never slept outside a zoo before. The exhibit’s been out here for four years and now it’s going back to Minnesota for some upkeep, then on to other zoos around the country.

Some people find it amazing that you live in your truck. Some can live on the road with everything they need on the truck—toilet, showers, everything. I’ve been on the road for 42 years, moving for the last 30. I used to do household moves but I’m getting too old for household. Plus, this is more interesting. High value moves take special capabilities and unique problem solving skills. Some are like a puzzle putting them together on the van. Not everyone can do them.

Jerry A.

I’ve been a van operator since 1975 and I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem with the moves themselves. The challenge is more in dealing with people who feel anxious about the move. Emotions can run high with some people. They feel that everything going on that truck is their baby, so you need to assure them about how you’re handling it and moving it. You do what you can to make them feel good about what’s happening.

Once I hauled monitors for the space shuttle from Edwards Air Force Base. The guy was very nervous, reminding me that these monitors were the only ones there were. People can understandably get worried because their load is one of a kind or worth $2.5 million. But you know what? I don’t care if it’s worth $2.5 million or $50. If it goes on my truck, I want to get it there safely.

 Jerry I.